The House of Representatives descended into chaos on 4th July 2019 after the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila read a communication signed by 90 lawmakers from its various minority parties (including the People’s Democratic Party) selecting their leadership. The letter nominated Hon. Ndudi Elumelu (PDP:Delta) as Minority Leader, Hon. Toby Okechukwu as Deputy Minority Leader (PDP:Enugu), Hon. Gideon Gwani Lucas (PDP:Kaduna) as Minority Whip and Hon. Adesegun Adekoya Abdul-Majid as Deputy Minority Whip (PDP:Ogun) respectively.
However, following the Speaker’s refusal to read a letter that the PDP had addressed to him, a rowdy scene quickly ensued with some lawmakers attempting to seize the mace in protest of the Speaker’s decision. PDP’s letter had nominated Honourable Kingsley Chinda, Chukwuka Onyema, Yakubu Barde and Muraina Ajibola to occupy the position of Minority leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Whip and Deputy Minority Whip respectively.
The Speaker however defended his position stating that the House standing orders permit Members to select their principal officers. He was also of the view that it was not customary for political parties to nominate its candidates for submission to the National Assembly.
A different scenario nonetheless played out in Senate where Anyinanya Abaribe and 3 others emerged as its Minority Leaders after Senate President Ahmad Lawan read out PDP’s communication. Hon. Elumelu and 6 other lawmakers are currently serving a month suspension for party insubordination.